Residents react to Akaka bill defeat | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Residents react to Akaka bill defeat | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Friday, June 9, 2006

Residents react to Akaka bill defeat

Advertiser Staff

From 'Aiea to Waikiki on O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands, the people of Hawai'i reacted to the latest events in what is popularly known as the Akaka bill. Yesterday, The Advertiser asked residents:

• What do you think the decision means for Hawai'i's future?

• Should federal recognition for Native Hawaiians continue to be pursued?

O'AHU

'AIEA

Ernie Akana

"The bill really doesn't have any teeth anymore. Whether it passes or not, it's just a Band-Aid."

Ernie Akana

Age: 52
Occupation: Firefighter
Part-Hawaiian

DOWNTOWN HONOLULU

Lynne Matusow

"I think it's a sad day for the Hawaiians. Their nation was stolen from them (by) the United States. I just don't think that the people in Washington get it."

Lynne Matusow

Age: Undisclosed
Occupation: Community activist
Non-Hawaiian

HAWAI'I KAI

"I'm not too akamai on the Akaka bill, but I'm for it. It's a start for us Hawaiians. Without that, we're nowhere. At least if we've got the Akaka bill passed, we're moving somewhere."

Richard "Babe" Bell

Age: 67
Occupation: Conch-shell blower at the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel
Part-Hawaiian

HE'EIA

"My general thoughts are (that without the Akaka bill) we don't have any entitlements. There will be more future attacks on Hawaiian programs: education, healthcare, housing programs. We really need these entitlements to continue. We saw a decrease in Hawaiian student enrollment this year."

Keali'i Gora

Age: 41
Occupation: Chairman of international affairs for Ka Lahui Hawai'i
Hawaiian

Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa

"America needs to find a way to right the wrong. Federal recognition is one way to right the wrong. For those of us who are looking for a peaceful resolution of our problems with the American government, we suggest federal recognition. If the federal government can't find a way to follow its own laws, it can decolonize and let Hawai'i return to being an independent nation."

Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa

Age: 53
Occupation: Professor of Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai'i
Hawaiian

KAHUKU

"If nothing's broken, then why fix it? We're not going to get any richer."

Reyna Masoe

Age: 37
Occupation: Receptionist
Part-Hawaiian

KAHALU'U

John Reppun

"The families out here will be affected by this. I hope they would be engaged."

John Reppun

Age: 53
Occupation: Community service
Non-Hawaiian

KAILUA

"The Akaka bill wasn't going to make any magic. We still have the negative statistics. We still have people in jail, and children in foster care and we still have things we have to do as Native Hawaiians. But the majority of people who are living in this community know they want justice done."

Yuklin Aluli

Age: 58
Occupation: Lawyer
Part-Hawaiian

"It's awfully hard because it's so fragmented as far as the Hawaiian people. There's so many different groups all claiming to be the one that knows what's best for all the Hawaiians."

Alan Heu

Age: 56
Occupation: Retired/community service
Part-Hawaiian

MA'ILI

Allan Andrews

"I think rough times are ahead (for) some of the social services that were provided or would be provided under this program. If it (the Akaka bill) doesn't pass, we are going to have to keep on plugging away to see if we can make it happen."

Allan Andrews

Age: 50
Occupation: Ship fitter
Part-Hawaiian

MANOA

"I feel it will be divisive. They need to do a better job of the existing programs that are supposedly for the Hawaiians."

Helen Nakano

Age: 69
Occupation: Retired
Non-Hawaiian

PACIFIC HEIGHTS

David Cheever

"I think it will be brought up again — and should be. There have been modifications to it that have been good. But I cannot visualize how we can have a government within a government."

David Cheever

Age: 68
Occupation: Semi-retired
Non-Hawaiian

PU'UNUI

"For me the major concern is that as long as we lack clarity about the formal relationship with the U.S. government, we're vulnerable to challenges based on the notion that our programs are race-based."

Mahealani Wendt

Age: 59
Occupation: Executive director, Native Hawaiian Legal Corp.
Part-Hawaiian

WAIAHOLE

"If everybody would come together and make a stand on what it is about, then maybe it would go forward, but everybody's opinions differ."

Laurie Dickson-Reppun

Age: Undisclosed
Occupation: Business owner
Part-Hawaiian

WAI'ALAE IKI

Bill Meheula

"The Akaka bill is needed for defending current equal protection lawsuits against Kamehameha Schools, OHA (Office of Hawaiian Affairs) and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. This decision is just going to lead to new lawsuits. With the bill, they would be defeated. Without the bill, it's going to be tougher."

Bill Meheula

Age: 53
Occupation: Litigator
Part-Hawaiian

WAI'ANAE

Pedro Peralta

"Now that we are a state, we are a part of the United States. So, I don't see why we should back off (being a part of) the United States."

Pedro Peralta

Age: 73
Occupation: Retired military (Korean War POW 1951-52)
Part-Hawaiian

WAI'ANAE VALLEY

Tony Mejia

"If the Akaka bill is never passed, they (the Hawaiians) aren't going to get what they should get, you know — what should be coming to them in the first place."

Tony Mejia

Age: 40
Occupation: Irrigation
Part-Hawaiian

WAIKIKI

"It's just so sad. I don't know where this is going to take us, where this will lead us. I'm appalled about it."

Jeff Apaka

Age: 59
Occupation: Community-relations director/entertainer
Part-Hawaiian

"I think it's going to set back a lot of things that people have been wanting. This was the first step for us."

The Rev. Lane Akiona

Age: 53
Occupation: Minister at St. Augustine by the Sea Church
Part-Hawaiian

WAIMANALO

"I'm not for Akaka bill. We don't want to be like the people from Alaska, and the Native Americans. That's my opinion. All my life, I've been working my buns off and it's very difficult. It's very difficult to get anywhere with the U.S. government."

Naomi W. Braine

Age: 63
Occupation: Lei maker at Aunty Bella's stand in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center
Part-Hawaiian

Patrick Ching

"I hope it does continue to be pursued, and I hope it's realized some day."

Patrick Ching

Age: 44
Occupation: Artist
Non-Hawaiian

Marvalee Healani Klein

"I am also part Indian — Chippewa. So, whatever we can do for my people should be pursued, and I just wish I was educated more at a younger age and not fallen into the Western culture and ate it all up. That's why my children are in Hawaiian immersion. But we're only nicking the surface."

Marvalee Healani Klein

Age: Undisclosed
Occupation: Photographer and salesclerk
Part-Hawaiian

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

BIG ISLAND

"We now have a better chance of working as a community, building a state and being part of the United States. This was a divisive move."

Sandra Scarr

Age: 69
Occupation: Retired university professor and coffee farmer
Non-Hawaiian

KAUA'I

Patrick Childs

"I don't believe you need the Akaka bill to protect the royal trusts. I agree that Kamehameha Schools, Lili'uokalani Trust and others should be protected. These are estate matters and are perfectly legitimate. The royal families can leave their money to whomever they want. The IRS should review its position on these matters."

Patrick Childs

Age: 58
Occupation: Business attorney
Non-Hawaiian

Kimo Perry

"This has been the most organized attempt to do things through existing federal channels. If this doesn't work out, we need to look at other options. The more radical versions of sovereignty are out there."

Kimo Perry

Age: 33
Occupation: Peer assistant program coordinator at Kaua'i Community College
Part-Hawaiian

MAUI

Isaac Hall

"I'm extremely worried about OHA, Kamehameha Schools, all of the entities that are established to benefit Native Hawaiians. I think the courts have been waiting to see what's going to happen to the Akaka bill before ruling on some of these cases, and now that this vote's been taken, I fear for the worst."

Isaac Hall

Age: 62
Occupation: Wailuku attorney
Non-Hawaiian

Compiled by Advertiser staff writers Will Hoover, Robert Shikina, Jan TenBruggencate and Mary Vorsino

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